Democrats say their own Senate candidate member of 'hate group'

Nashville
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The Tennessee Democratic Party said on Friday it was disavowing the winner of its primary race for Senate because its own candidate is part of an anti-gay hate group.

Mark Clayton, a Nashville-area candidate, received more than 48,000 votes Thursday, nearly twice the votes as fellow Democrats in his primary race.

However, even though most Tennessee Democrats picked Clayton to run against Republican Senator Bob Corker, the Democratic Party has a big problem with him, according to a USA Today report.

It seems the candidate that most Tennessee Democrats voted for is also a member of Public Advocate of the USA, a group that, according to Reuters, does not support gay rights. From Obama down, the Democrats have made gay marriage a centerpiece of their election campaigns.

Democratic Party spokesman Sean Braisted said that Clayton is "a perennial candidate" who was on the primary ballot in 2008, "didn't do anything... so he filed again," according to a Braisted, who called the organization a “hate group” in the Reuters report.

The state’s Democratic Party said it will not support Clayton or fund his campaign in the general election.

"The only time that Clayton has voted in a Democratic primary was when he was voting for himself," the party stated in a news release.

When it came to how Democrats overwhelmingly chose Clayton in the primaries, the Democratic Party was careful with its wording, basically implying the people didn’t know what they were doing.

"Many Democrats in Tennessee knew nothing about any of the candidates in the race, so they voted for the person at the top of the ticket," the statement says. "Unfortunately, none of the other Democratic candidates were able to run the race needed to gain statewide visibility or support."

However the PAUS people vehemently disagree with Sean Braisted’s description of their organization as a “hate group.”

A statement from Public Advocate of the USA reads: "The liberal cry babies who whine about Mark Clayton's total and complete democratic victory refuse to accept blame for their own failed policies that drove Mark Clayton to a crushing electoral victory."

The PAUS website states that Public Advocate offers "strong and vocal opposition" to same sex marriage and "the furtherance of so-called 'Gay Rights'."

Democrats stopped short of suggesting Tennessee Democrats vote for Chattanooga Republican Bob Corker. About 390,000 Republicans voted for Corker over his closest primary rival, which suggests Clayton will be trounced by the Republican with or without the help of the state Democratic Party.